O C T O B E R 2 0 0 1

Selected Trend Dataon Gender and DiversityFUTURE HARVEST CENTERS, 1995-2001

P R E P A R E D B Y : ANNE ACOSTAVICKI WILDE

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gender diversityA PROGRAM OF THE CONSULTATIVE GROUP ON

INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH (CGIAR)

working paper

D O C U M E N T P R E P A R E D F O R T H E E X E C U T I V E C O M M I T T E E A N DA N N U A L G E N E R A L M E E T I N G O F T H E C G I A R

O C T O B E R 2 0 0 1

CGIAR

The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was created in 1971 from an association of public and private members that support a system of 16 international agricultural research centers known as Future Harvest Centers. Working in more than 100 countries, The Future Harvest Centers mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. The Centers are located in 12 developing and 3 developed countries and are sponsored by The World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) The CGIAR budget in 2000 was US $340 million. All new technologies arising from the Center’s research are freely available to everyone. For more information about the CGIAR, see: www.cgiar.org

GENDER AND DIVERSITY PROGRAM

The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program serves to cultivate a workplace where diversity is celebrated and all staff are empowered to give their best to enrich future harvests. Its overall goal is to assist the 16 CGIAR Centers to seek out and collectively gain from the diversity inherent within the global organization. The Gender and Diversity Program grew out of a 1991 CGIAR initiative on gender staffing aimed at assisting the Centers to promote the recruitment, accomplishment, advancement and retention of women scientists and professionals

In 1999, this program was broadened to include diversity. The program provides support to the Centers through small grants, technical assistance, and management consulting, training, and information services. The CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program is hosted by ICRAF (Nairobi, Kenya) and the Program Leader is Vicki Wilde (v.wilde@cgiar.org). The Gender and Diversity Program seeks to use diversity to strengthen internal and external partnerships that enhance the relevance and impact of the Centers, by creating and maintaining an organizational culture that: • Attracts and retains the world’s best women

and men; • Encourages the recruitment and promotion of

under-represented groups; • Establishes a workplace climate of genuine

respect, equity and high morale; • Promotes a healthy balance between

professional and private lives; • Inspires world-class competency in multi-

cultural teamwork, cross-cultural communication and international management;

• Empowers and enthuses all women and men in the system to maximize professional efficacy and collectively contribute their best; and

• Rewards leadership, creativity and innovation that employs and celebrates diversity in the Centers.

CGIAR CENTERS CIAT CIFOR CIMMYT CIP ICARDA ICLARM ICRAF ICRISAT IFPRI IWMI IITA ILRI IPGRI IRRI ISNAR WARDA

Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (COLOMBIA) Center for International Forestry Research (INDONESIA) Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (MEXICO) Centro Internacional de la Papa (PERU) International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (SYRIA) World Fish Center (MALAYSIA) World Agroforestry Centre (KENYA) International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (INDIA) International Food Policy Research Institute (USA) International Water Management Institute (SRI LANKA) International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (NIGERIA) International Livestock Research Institute (KENYA) International Plant Genetics Resources Institute (ITALY) International Rice Research Institute (PHILIPPINES) International Service for National Agricultural Research (THE NETHERLANDS) West Africa Rice Development Association (COTE D’IVOIRE)

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1. Summary of IRS and NRS Staff Changes

This document summarizes the principal findings of the first ever comprehensive study of Future Harvest Center staff demographics, covering international and nationally recruited staff (IRS and NRS, respectively) trends between January 1995 and August 2001.1 Findings are reported here with regard to total staff numbers in the CGIAR, diversity trends reflected in the distribution of staff by their region of origin, the balance between men and women among IRS and NRS, and position distribution by gender. Major findings include the following:

• Overall staffing levels in the Future Harvest Centers have declined by 19% since 1995, with the majority of staff cuts occurring among nationally recruited staff (21% decline in NRS vs. a 6% decline in IRS). NRS staff cuts are not uniform across centers, however. More than 85% of the NRS staff cuts occurred in the four Centers that began the period with the largest national staff base: CIAT, ICRISAT, IITA, and IRRI. Staffing numbers are summarized in the table below

Table 1. Summary of IRS and NRS staff changes, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

1995 2001 % change Total % of total Total % of total 1995-2001

IRS females 148 1.5% 182 2.3% 23.0% IRS males 941 9.7% 840 10.7% -10.7%

Total IRS 1,089 11.2% 1,022 13.0% -6.2% NRS females 2,190 22.6% 1,906 24.2% -13.0% NRS males 6,429 66.2% 4,923 62.6% -23.4%

Total NRS 8,619 88.8 6,829 87.0% -20.8% GRAND TOTAL 9,708 7,851 -19.1%

1 The present document is an abbreviated version of the Future Harvest staffing trends

analysis to be presented in an upcoming monograph from the CGIAR Gender and Diversity Program entitled: “Gender and Diversity in Times of Change: Staffing Trends and Organizational Change Strategies.” The findings described in this summary document are based on survey data obtained from the 16 Future Harvest Centers, documenting all international and nationally recruited hires and departures between January 1995 and August 2001, as well as total staff numbers (IRS and NRS) at several different intervals. Detailed data tables and CG System-wide staffing trends will be included in the monograph. In addition, the Gender and Diversity Program will synthesize each Center’s data and return the analysis to the individual Centers for consideration by Boards of Trustees, senior management, human resources staff, external review, etc.

One cautionary note is in order: in spite of valiant efforts on the part of the Centers to provide data in a common format, there remain some gaps and discrepancies. Where chart or table data do not add up consistently, it is usually because of missing information in the original (raw) data.

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• Among international staff, the proportion of staff from World Bank Part II2 countries has increased very slightly over the seven year period, from 47.4% in 1995 to 48.6% in 2001. The increase is largely due to a greater attrition rate among IRS from Part I countries rather than to stronger recruitment of Part II country professionals. For both Part I and Part II-country natives, overall staffing declined in the upper ranks of the staffing ladder, and increased somewhat among Scientists, Associate Scientists and Post-doctoral Fellows.

• The proportion of women international and national staff is gradually increasing: as of August 2001, women represent 17.8% of total IRS and 27.9% of NRS (up from 13.6% and 25.4%, respectively, at the beginning of 1995). However, the percentage of female IRS and NRS varies widely among the 16 Centers. Female IRS continue to be clustered in the lower rungs of the Center career ladder. As of August 2001, women hold only 7.5% of senior management positions. The proportion of women in the top four position levels declined over the study period. As for NRS, the picture is mixed but more positive, with women well represented in management, senior researcher positions, and senior professional staff.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Future Harvest Centers have cooperated generously in the collection of IRS and NRS staffing data – indeed, without the significant assistance of Center Human Resources staff, this study would not have been possible.

2 This document refers several times to World Bank “Part I” and “Part II” countries. By

the Bank’s definition, Part I countries provide donor funding, and Part II countries are recipients of said loan funds.

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2. Overall trends for international and national recruited staff

Financial constraints and deliberate workforce restructuring - to meet new ways of science - faced in the second half of the 1990s by the Future Harvest Centers, resulted in staff reductions in many of the Centers. There was a greater impact on national than international staff. Figure 1 shows the annual totals of IRS and NRS by gender from January 1, 1995 to August 31, 2001. IRS numbers declined by 6% during the seven-year period, compared with a 21% decline in nationally recruited staff. However, in spite of the total decline in both IRS and NRS, the proportion of women staff at both levels is gradually increasing: from 13.6 to 17.8% in the case of IRS, and from 25.4 to 27.9% among NRS. It is noteworthy that the absolute number of IRS females increased by 34 over the study period, in spite of the overall downward trend in total staff.

Although much of the decline in nationally recruited staff took place in the lower position grades, the changing demographics has also cut into the ranks of IRS and NRS researchers. Figure 2 shows annual totals for IRS and NRS scientists over the study period. Note in particular the decline in the ratio of NRS to IRS scientists, from 2.37 NRS per IRS in 1995 to 1.93 NRS per IRS in 2001.

Figure 3 shows changes in the distribution of IRS men and women by region. Except in the case of Africa, the percentage of male IRS declined for every region, while the percentage of female IRS increased across all regions. The total percentage of World Bank Part II natives increased marginally, from 47.4% in 1995 to 48.6% in 2001; the percentage distribution of IRS on a region-by-region basis remained virtually stable as well.

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Figure 1. Total staff in the Future Harvest Centers, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

Note: Numbers in the graph are total numbers for that category.

1995 total staff = 9708; 2001 total staff = 7851

Figure 2. Changes in the population of scientists/researchers (IRS and NRS), Future Harvest Centers, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

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Figure 3. Regional and gender diversity trends among internationally recruited staff, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

Figure 4 highlights several trends. It points out the dramatic declines among both World Bank Part I and Part II natives in the top four staffing grades, compared with increases for both regional groupings in the three lowest grades. The increase in Post-doctoral Fellows for both regional groupings is especially significant. On the other hand, the table suggests that World Bank Part II. IRS appear to be underrepresented in the ranks of senior management (DDGs/ Directors and Research Program/Administrative Heads).

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Figure 4. Changes in the regional diversity by IRS position levels, Future Harvest Centers, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

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3. Gender and NRS Trends Previous analyses of IRS demographics have pointed out the wide variation among Centers in terms of the proportion of women; the most recent data reconfirm this dynamic (see Figure 5, “Female IRS as a percentage of total staff, by Center 1995 and 2001”).

Figure 5. Female IRS as a percentage of total staff, by Center 1995 to

2001

For the first time, data are now also available concerning the male-female balance among NRS (see Figure 6). The data shows that the proportion of NRS women varies even more widely among Centers than does the IRS ratio. In the case of both national and internationally recruited staff, the Centers located in Northern countries clearly have an easier time attracting female staff. The case of CIFOR is an interesting outlier, however.

It is not the purpose of this study to set target participation rates for female IRS or NRS. For NRS recruitments especially, each Center faces a different gender balance in its local labor pool, and local culture may also affect whether it is considered appropriate, for example, for women to work as field laborers (although we know that women represent more than half of the world’s farmers). For the time being, the CGIAR and the

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Gender and Diversity Program will continue to monitor these trends, and support the Centers in their efforts to more effectively recruit, retain and promote women.

The importance of strengthening an integrated strategy of female recruitment/retention/advance-ment is highlighted by Figure 7, which shows the distribution of IRS men and women by position level. IRS women continue to be clustered in the lower ranks of the career ladder, and both

Figure 6. Female nationally recruited staff as % of total NRS, by IARC 1995 and

2001

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Figure 7. Staff changes by IRS position levels and gender, Future Harvest Centers 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

Other data from the current study (not shown here) indicate that the departure rate for both IRS and NRS, and particularly the rate of voluntary departures, is higher for women than for men. It is promising that the Centers are recruiting new women employees at an even faster rate than they are leaving, but it would be more cost effective to retain the well-qualified female staff already present in the Centers. It will also be important to further explore the motivations behind women’s (and men’s, IRS and NRS) choices to voluntarily leave CG Center employment. Do different factors influence decision-making, depending on the gender of the employee? What can be done to make the Centers more attractive for staff that is already on board?

Among nationally recruited staff, the gender balance is more even, with women proportionally represented (relative to their total staff strength in the Centers) in management positions, and more than proportionally represented as senior scientists, and professional support staff (see Figure 8).

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Figure 8. Percentage female participation by NRS staff position category, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

Figure 9 looks at where staff cuts fell most heavily among NRS by position level. In absolute numbers, the greatest reductions occurred among male NRS in the categories of “Other admini-stration and support staff”, “Other researchers/technicians” and “field labor”. In percentage terms, the greatest reductions occurred among female NRS in the relatively smaller base categories of “managers/supervisors” and “field labor”.

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Figure 9. National recruited staff changes by position in the Future Harvest Centers, 1 Jan 1995 to 31 Aug 2001

Figure 10 concludes this summary with a picture of the current distribution of all CGIAR nationally recruited staff by functional area.

Figure 10. Distribution of nationally recruited staff by position level, 16 Future Harvest Centers, 31 Aug 2001